Official languagesEnglish; both English and Scots Gaelic in Scotland; both English and Welsh in Wales

Official religionSee footnote 2.

Monetary unitpound sterling (£)

Population(2016 est.) 65,630,000

Total area (sq mi)93,628

Total area (sq km)242,495

Urban-rural populationUrban: (2014) 82.3%Rural: (2014) 17.7%

Life expectancy at birthMale: (2015) 78.4 yearsFemale: (2015) 82.8 years

Literacy: percentage of population age 15 and over literateMale: (2006) 99%Female: (2006) 99%

GNI per capita (U.S.$)(2015) 43,340

(1) Active members as of March 2016, 88 hereditary peers, 701 life peers, and 26 archbishops and bishops.(2) Church of England “established” (protected by the state but not “official”); Church of Scotland “national” (exclusive jurisdiction
in spiritual matters per Church of Scotland Act 1921); no established church in Northern Ireland or Wales.

Related resources for this article

Introduction

Land and Climate

Plants and Animals

People and Culture

Major Cities

Economy

Government

History

Walpole, Britain’s First Prime Minister

Britain Wins French Territory

The American Revolution

Britain’s Classical Age

The numerous wars of the 18th century were fought with small professional armies and hardly disturbed the even tenor of life in Britain. Even the loss of the American Colonies was little felt. Britain still dominated the seas, and its mariners and traders soon built a second empire greater than the old. Before the century ended, the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution were to produce tremendous upheavals. Until the storm broke, Britain was quiet…

The Industrial Revolution

Improved Nutrition and Transportation

Challenge of Napoleon

Effects of the War with France

The Coming of Democracy

The Regency and the Trend to Reform

Parliamentary Reform

The Victorian Age

Free Trade and Prosperity

Wider Suffrage and Imperialism

An Age of Peace and Progress

The Labour Party and the New Liberalism

Lloyd George’s Social Legislation

World War I and Its Aftermath

Three Kings in One Year

Britain Abandons Free Trade

Outbreak of World War II

The Battle of Britain

Britain’s Socialist Revolution

Decline in World Power

Conservative Government

Shifts in Power

Thatcherism

Rise of New Labour

Britain in the 21st Century

The Cameron Years

Additional Reading

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